Luke Cage

"Always forward, never back."

After being subjected to illegal human experimentation in prison, Carl Lucas (Mike Colter) gains super strength and near indestructibility then uses said powers to escape back to Harlem to lay low from the law, changing his name to the titular "Luke Cage", and reluctantly becoming a hero to that crime filled neighborhood.

There's a lot to like with this show, the acting is good, the lead is likeable, most of the villains are decent, season 2 has capoeira (always get bonus points from me), and most episodes showcase a band or music group which is fantastic even though half the songs aren't my sort of thing.

That said, for me this is the weakest series when compared to Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Iron Fist. The first season in particular is very slow paced and all the black references just for the sake of solidifying that this is a black show for black people just reeks of racism didn't do it for me.

It's like a punch to the face!

Fortunately most of that is fixed up in Season 2 but apparently it wasn't good enough to save it from the axe. Still worth a watch, and definitely better than the DC counterpart "Black Lightning" which was just way too ghetto for us to even make it past episode 1.

Neverwinter Online: Blue Dragon Cultist Recruitment

[Part of the Gallery]

Of the dragon cult groups, this one seems like the easiest to sell, though one always needs to pay attention to the small print...

Also, in-game any enemy with a shield has the same property so maybe it's not such a good selling point after all? Now if the armor behaved like a Faraday cage that would be awesome.

Iron Fist

The Shaolin Superhero.

After surviving a plane crash, Danny Rand (Finn Jones) is taken to the mystical land of Kun Lun where he masters the martial arts and attains their highest achievement: becoming the Immortal Iron Fist.

At this point, instead of fulfilling his protector duties, he decides to leave and return to his father's multi billion company, upsetting basically everyone.

While it doesn't help that the first season has a weak villain, more problematic was Finn Jones not actually being up to the skill level of said Iron Fist. Despite that I quite enjoyed it and quite liked all the other characters, especially Jessica Henwick's Colleen. Even the weak villain. Just not the almost unrelatable Danny Rand.

My favourite character.

Season 2 fixed this by bringing Danny "down to Earth", Finn Jones skilling up in wushu, having a better thought out adversary, and a better plot all around. That last shot was quite the WTF though, and due to cancellation may only be explained in a crossover with the other Marvel Defenders.  

Still a decent compared to some others out there though obviously your mileage may vary. I preferred it over Luke Cage.

Pandemic: Iberia

Less technology, more difficulty!

Pandemic is one of my most played games currently, so getting Pandemic: Iberia was a natural progression for me. Much of the game play from the original is familiar. The disease cubes, epidemic cards, trading of cards and researching disease are all the same.

It's the differences that make it harder, for one diseases must be researched to win, but they can never be "cured". Secondly, there are no airplanes which means travel is slow - until you build up the railway system, which is one of the highlights of the game for me. A single move action can take you to anywhere connected by the placable rail tracks. It's very cool!

It also has cool art!

This is one of those games that is easier with less people though so be warned! Bringing a full complement of 5 characters means winning (or losing) by the skin of your teeth. On the other hand, if the game is too easy you can try run the "patients" version where the cubes move, or face historical viruses which makes those cubes more deadly.

A good challenge and a good game. If you are tossing up on getting regular Pandemic or this one, get this one. I give it 3.5 hospitals out of 5.

Siberia

The bear never escapes.

Through bad luck and a sequence of bad decisions a shady diamond trader (Keanu Reeves) gets into trouble while trying to make money off a Russian mobster, mainly due to the fact that the product he promised to sell has gone missing.

Nope, no diamonds here.

First things first - there's very little fighting in this romantic crime thriller, instead putting in a lot of emphasis on "romantic" through copious use of sex scenes which I suppose is meant to help the slow pace of the "investigation" part of the film.

My wife hated it saying it's a "terrible movie". With that in mind, I can only give it 1.5 candles out of 5 and probably won't watch it again.

December 2018 Status

Just like that, December is upon us. I'm going to call it and say that anything still not done on this list yet is unlikely to be done this hectic month. I'm also reviving the "Compy Can't run" section for the sake of completion. It's amazing how the board game and web comic listing have just sat there for 11 months and barely moved. Maybe next year will be different? :P

    End the year with less weight (-2 kg from last month, running total: -5.9 kg)
    Draw 12 drawings of anything (13/12)
    Make board game prototype (no progress)
    Complete web comic chapter 1 (no progress)
    Clean out wardrobe (socks done)
    +Deal with overhanging trees   

Backlog Update:

FROM GIFTS (or freebies)
Sims 3 (done)

COMPY CAN'T RUN (but I want to play)
Batman: Arkham Knight
Dying Light
Alien Isolation
Shadow of War
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Satellite Reign
Assassins Creed Unity
Astroneer (Alpha)

Board games:
Mice and Mystics Campaign (6/11)
Zombicide: Black Plague Campaign (5/11)
London Dread Campaign (0/4)
Play Adamastor (0/2 modes)

Mission Impossible: Fallout

Getting hit by lightning is nothing!

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is tasked in stopping a nuclear threat and assembles a team of familiar faces to do so. His plot armor has also grown thicker in this movie as things go his way through sheer dumb luck, especially towards the finale.

The cast do a good job though, as do all the stuntmen in the extended vehicle scenes and hand to hand combat near the start. Props to Tom for all that sprint training too!

He's really good at running!

The movie has a lot of gotcha moments which are both cool and annoying, having a penchant of showing 5 minutes chunks of events that don't actually happen.

Being the sixth in the franchise, it's obviously a good idea to watch the predecessors, and while its not one I'll actively seek to watch again, I suppose I will if nothing else is on. Definitely only for action and or MI fans, I give this 3 rubber masks out of 5.